Doyle Wheeler
Real Name: Doyle Wheeler Case: '''Harrassment, Attempted Murder '''Date: April 19, 1988 Location: Sun Crest, Washington Case Details: Former San Diego police officer Doyle Wheeler was in charge of handling the San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre that occurred on July 18, 1984. The assailant, James Huberty, killed twenty-one people and wounded three others in the restaurant. Doyle ordered the SWAT team to fire on Huberty; however, there is a delay of twenty-five minutes before the order is carried out. Doyle believes that at least four people died as a result of this delay. Despite the fact that he was not responsible for the delay, Doyle blamed himself and received great mental anguish from the incident. In March of 1985, he attempted suicide. A few months later, in October, he retired from the department with a stress-related disability. On April 24, 1986, Doyle was brought out of retirement by a subpoena; he had been called to testify at a murder trial. The defendant was a twenty-two-year-old black man named Sagon Penn. He was accused of killing officer Thomas Riggs and wounding officer Donovan Jacobs. The defense claimed that Jacobs had beat Penn severely with a nightstick, before he grabbed Jacobs's gun and fired in self-defense. Some suspected that the incident was racially-motivated. Doyle testified against Jacobs, claiming that Jacobs was an aggressive racist who had a particular dislike for African American suspects. He claimed that Jacobs had been written up for police brutality and other incidents against minorities. Jacobs denied this and claimed that Doyle was lying. However, other San Diego officers also came forward, testifying that Jacobs did exhibit racist attitudes. Penn was later found not guilty of the charges and was released. In June of 1986, Doyle and his family left San Diego for Sun Crest, Washington, in order to escape the controversy of both the McDonald's Massacre and the Sagon Penn trial. Doyle claimed that on April 19, 1988, at least three unidentified men broke into his home. One of the men pulled a gun on him as he was working on the refrigerator in his kitchen. A second man put a rope around his neck. They then forced him into one of his bedrooms. While this was happening, Doyle heard the third man upstairs, ransacking the house. The assailants told him that he was going to write a suicide note. When he refused, they physically assaulted him; they punched him, kicked him, and burned him with cigarettes. However, when they threatened to kill Doyle's children, he agreed to write the note. It read: To the San Diego Police, I lied at the trial about Donovan Jacobs and the police department. I'm sorry. I make this statement of my own free will. - Doyle F. Wheeler After he finished writing the note, Doyle was taken to the basement. The assailants tied his hands and feet together. The dark-haired man went upstairs, presumably to talk to the third man. He then returned and made a phone call from the phone in the basement. After that, the man returned and told Doyle that they were going to make his death look like a drug deal gone wrong. The men then placed a pillow over his head and shot him. Fortunately, he moved his head enough so that the bullet only grazed the side of his head. Once he heard the men drive away, Doyle struggled to make his way to the laundry room. Once inside, he was able to pull the phone off of the table with his foot. He then used his tongue to dial 911. A few minutes later, paramedics arrived and he was taken to the hospital. The police department went through the Wheeler home, looking for clues. Their master bedroom had been ransacked; the assailant had apparently been looking for one of Doyle's badges. In another room, investigators found the notepad on which Doyle was forced to write. They were able to make out the words "San Diego Police" and "Donovan Jacobs". They immediately called the San Diego police chief. He raised a surprising possibility: that Doyle may have staged the entire incident. Investigators in Washington looked into the possibility that the crime had been staged. However, they found no evidence to support this theory. Jacobs believed that Doyle staged the attack for attention. He claimed that his suicide attempts and testimony at the Penn trial were also ways that he got "attention". Doyle, however, denies this and believes that Jacobs or other San Diego officers may have been involved in the attack. There are two facts that point to a possible conspiracy involving members of the San Diego police department. First, Doyle noted that he recognized the dark-haired man as an informant for the narcotics division of the San Diego police force. Next, phone records showed that the call made by the dark-haired man was to the narcotics division of the San Diego police. A recording by the department showed that the caller asked for Donovan Jacobs. Jacobs, however, claims that he is being framed for the crime. He believes that Doyle himself placed the call. San Diego officers who heard the call, however, do not believe that Doyle was the caller. Doyle was asked to take a lie detector test, but he refused. He claimed that he didn't take one because the investigators said that they were not going to "bother" the other suspects about taking the test. Jacobs was also asked to take a lie detector test; he declined. Jacobs believes that Doyle set up the attack; he cited the lack of evidence of forced entry into Doyle's house and stated that he believes Doyle did this for further publicity and to further discredit Jacobs. Despite Jacobs' allegations that the attack was staged, several neighbors and eyewitnesses reported seeing at least four unidentified men around the Wheeler home on the day of the attack. Shortly before paramedics arrived at the scene, a neighbor noticed Doyle's car speeding away from the home. That morning, the same neighbor also noticed a suspicious blue Toyota parked in front of his home. Earlier that morning, another local resident noticed a similar car, twelve miles from the Wheeler home. The witness noticed four men standing around the car. The day after the attack, Doyle's car was found in the exact same location where the witness saw the blue Toyota the day before. Composites of doyles attackers.jpg|Composites of the assailants Donovan jacobs.jpg Suspects: Former police officer Donovan Jacobs is a suspect. Doyle suspects that Jacobs or another San Diego officer hired the men to attack and kill him because of his testimony against Jacobs and police brutality. Jacobs, however, denies any involvement in the attack. He and some officers suspect that Doyle staged the attack himself. The blond haired unidentified man that attacked Doyle was described as in his late 20s (in 1989), 6'0", extremely thin, wearing a gold earring in his left ear and with a tattoo of a double lightning bolt (a Nazi symbol) on his left hand and a pockmarked face. The dark-haired assailant was described as also in his late 20s (in 1989), 6'0" to 6'2" with a slender, athletic build, crooked teeth and one large pockmark on his left cheek. Wheeler theorizes he may have been a former drug informant for the San Diego police department. Neither of the assailants have ever been identified. They may have been driving a dark blue, hatchback Toyota Celica. Extra Notes: This case aired as a part of the November 8, 1989 episode. This case was never re-aired, allegedly because Donovan Jacobs sued Unsolved Mysteries over his portrayal in the segment. Results: Unsolved Links: * Man Acquitted of Killing Officer * San Diego Murder Trial Witness Shot * Wounding of Ex-Officer Who Testified for Defense at Penn Trial Still a Puzzle * Ex-San Diego Officer Blames Former Colleagues for Attack * Call to San Diego Police Is Key in Attack on Ex-Officer * Wheeler's case could go unsolved * Probe Stymied in Shooting of Former Officer * Probe of Ex-Officer's Shooting Inconclusive * Sagon Penn case surfaces again * https://www.facebook.com/groups/631752367223887/permalink/644230505976073/ * SitcomsOnline Discussion of Doyle Wheeler ---- Category:California Category:Washington Category:1988 Category:Harassment Category:Attempted Murder Category:Unsolved Category:Police-Involved Cases